The company managing Ken’s Korner Shopping Plaza in Clinton already signed a new lease with a grocery outlet store to replace the Red Apple, according to a statement from Osprey Management.

The company reports that rumors about plans to replace the longtime grocery store with self-storage units are false.

“The landlord signed a new lease with an established discount grocery store that will provide the Whidbey Island community with a broad selection of high-quality grocery items at competitive prices,” according to the statement from Osprey. “More details about the new store’s opening date, offerings and features will be shared in the coming months. We believe that this transition marks a positive turning point for Ken’s Korner Shopping center and the residents of South Whidbey.”

On April 12, the South Whidbey Record ran a story about Ken’s Korner Red Apple Market’s attempt to fight eviction from the strip mall, which is owned by out-of-state company Crystal View Management and a related holding company and capital fund. The company specializes in self-storage and manufactured housing, according to its website.

The vice president of operations wrote in an email that the landlord wasn’t in a position to respond to the newspaper earlier this month, but now it can.

Court documents show that the landlord filed an unlawful detainer against the Red Apple in February, but the owner of the grocery store is contesting the action. The landlord claims that Red Apple did not renew its lease, but the grocery store claims it did.

The landlord is asking a judge in Island County Superior Court for a summary judgment. Scott Milburn, attorney for Red Apple, wrote in an email that the judge already ruled that there are issues of material fact that require a jury trial.

“Their confidence is impressive,” Milburn wrote of the landlord, “because there is at least a reasonable chance that the outcome of the current lawsuit will be that the Red Apple has the right to remain in place, undisturbed, until 2043.”